new figures show the united states flu outbreak has reached a point of epidemic. new york is the latest state to declare a public health emergency. >> that's right. the cdc reports this morning that 47 states now have widespread flu outbreaks. the only states that don't are california, mississippi, and hawaii. elaine quijano is at st. luke's roosevelt hospital in new york city. elaine, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. as you're waking up in the west there is good news in california. the number of flu cases there have been minimal. here in new york state, some 20,000 cases have been reported so far with more than five times as many as last year. the nationwide reach of this year's flu epidemic can be blamed on its early start. >> the earlier the flu season starts, the worse it becomes because it usually rolls through all the holiday madness, and that involves a lot of people. so the spread is like a chain lever. it's exponential. >> reporter: of 135 million doses of flu vaccine manufactured this season 128 million have been administered. as word spreads abo